Sermon Central
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The Good Ship Disciple-Ship
Contributed by Brad Rigney on Jun 23, 2006 (message contributor)
Summary: Focusing on boarding the Ship of Discipleship. What it means to be a Disciple of Jesus Christ.
The GoodShip: Disciple-Ship
Intro.:
A. As I mentioned last week, an Aircraft Carrier is a good ship for Offense as it has about 90 airplanes onboard. However, an aircraft carrier needs the help of other ships for support. A DESTROYER is one type of a Ship in the Task Force of a Aircraft Carrier. The modern Destroyer is a vital part of any military campaign. Destroyers are usually named after Naval heroes or notable persons. The USS Zumwalt is named after Admiral Zumwalt. Today’s destroyers are being built and modified to be a multimission force. It’s primary mission will be land attack support for ground forces. It can provide gunfire up to 100 miles inland with its 155mm Howitzers; it has a missile system that will support land efforts from 100-200 miles inland and with its Tactical Tomahawk missiles it can extend its range to up to 1600 miles inland. It also has a few helicopters onboard and provides some submarine like sonar and minesweep suvalence capabilities. All this with only a crew of about 95.
B. But today, it is not this good Naval ship that I want you to remember but to reflect on the Good Ship – Discipleship! This ship is key for every Christian and Church. It is our overall purpose, as a church, to Make Disciples, (Mt. 28:19-20) It is our main purpose to be a Disciple. And being a Disciple is a multitask mission: from drawing closer to the Lord, to living our life differently as a Disciple of the Lord, to Making Disciples of others.
C. In our passage today we learn about being a Disciple. This chapter begins with Jesus doing a great miracle: as the crowd was following Jesus, it was getting late and so Jesus taking the 5 loafs of bread and 2 small fish, from a boys lunch – used to feed over 5000 people. The people and disciples were amazed.
- Later Jesus’s disciples at night were on a boat to Capernaum when a storm hit. Jesus came to them walking on water and they arrived safely to Capernaum.
- The next morning the crowd realized that Jesus nor His Disciples were around so they headed to Capernaum to find them. They did and Jesus began to teach them that He is the Bread of life. Jesus told them they were curious because he fed them (vs. 26); that the work of God was to believe the one He has sent (vs. 29); that Moses wasn’t the one who gave the manna it was God the father, (vs. 32), that He is the Bread of life (the bread that came down from heaven, like manna, that it is a bread that as you eat you will never be hungry again, this bread is my flesh which I give for the world and he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have life and he who doesn’t will not.
- Jesus was referring to His death and the shedding of his blood for the forgiveness of sins. We remember this precisely as we partake in the Lord’s Supper. Jesus says; that it is only through a person’s total faith in His death and Rez. That one can have eternal life.
- This was very hard for the Jewish people who thought they had a natural association for eternal life because they were Jewish and because of their works in seeking to obey the law.
C. So we pick it up in our passage today and see that when Jesus taught this, it was hard for people to accept it – not to understand it – but to accept it and so they left. We learn as we look at this passage some of what it means about being a Disciple!
Body:
A. A True Disciple is one who totally believes Jesus is the Holy One of God. Vs. 68-69, 64
- Some of them – those who left did not believe have Faith, Trust in Jesus, vs. 64
- The True Disciples – who didn’t leave Believed – they trusted and had Faith that Jesus was the Bread of life – that He was the Holy One who had come from God the Father and that He did have the words for Eternal life.
- It all starts here for a True Disciple: Do you believe, Trust that Jesus in His death on the Cross paid the price for your sins and through Him alone, as the Holy One from the Father is eternal life – or do you still believe that your works can save you be trying to be good?
- This believing is demonstrated by us Confessing our sins to Him and Receiving Jesus as our Savior and Lord. John 1:12 “To all who received him to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Rom. 10:9-10; if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and you confess with your mouth, He is Lord, you will be saved.”
